In Rice & Adams Corporation v. Lathrop, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Rice & Adams Corporation, a construction company that had been sued by Lathrop for breach of contract. The case revolved around whether or not the corporation was liable to pay damages after it failed to complete a building project on time due to labor strikes and other unforeseen circumstances. The court held that these were valid reasons for delay under the "force majeure" clause in their contract which excuses parties from liability if they are unable to fulfill their obligations due to events beyond their control. Therefore, Rice & Adams Corporation was not found guilty of breaching its contractual obligations with Lathrop.

In the dissenting opinion for Rice & Adams Corporation v. Lathrop, Justice Stone argued that the majority's decision to uphold a state law requiring corporations to pay an annual franchise tax was incorrect. He believed that this tax violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it did not take into account whether or not a corporation had any business activity in the state during a given year. In his view, if a corporation conducted no business and derived no benefit from its existence under state laws during certain years, then it should not be required to pay taxes for those years. This interpretation would ensure fair treatment of corporations and prevent states from imposing arbitrary financial burdens on them without due process of law.